Tag: A Story Set in Halifax

Here at Mexico Time we love sharing Mexican culture wherever it may be. This evening I have a rather funny story to tell to you, and it relates to the other post I wrote today about people coming together. Hold on to your hats and get ready for a story about Halifax tow truck driver who turns things around. This is a tale of comedy, truth, adventure, love, and, perhaps most interestingly, racism.

As you know a lot of Trump enthusiasts out there don’t like Mexicans because they believe all Mexicans are just trying to mooch off the American way of life. This issue is not as prevalent in Canada where today’s story takes place. But still even in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the problem is there. My friend Larry has been living there since he was three years old but he’s been blessed with a Mexican mother who teaches him his heritage and culture. Larry works for one of the best Halifax towing companies around and has been operating the same tow truck for nearly ten years. He loves his job and this story comes straight from his mouth as we had the pleasure of visiting each other over the winter.

Nova Scotia isn’t quite like southern USA, but it also isn’t like Denmark, either. There are still a fair amount of racists there and this story all starts off when on a Saturday night Larry was drinking at a pub with his wife. His wife is from Japan and has only been living in Halifax for three years, and so an old guy felt he had the right to come to their table and tell Larry and his wife to move back to where they came from. Now Larry is a smart guy and a good judge of character. Right away from carefully studying this old man’s face he could tell the man had gone through some rough days. This old man who had clearly been drinking too much took things a little far when he refused to leave Larry alone and persisted that Larry go back to his motherland. Now Larry, thank goodness, has an amazing sense of humor and so does his wife, so they just laughed this off.

A week later after doing the old regular job for the tow truck company in Halifax, Larry got a distress call about an old man who needed emergency roadside assistance just outside the city if Halifax. Larry, not even remembering a detail of the night he had had in the pub a week before, had no idea who he was about to bump into again. He showed up at the scene of a car crash in his tow truck ready to provide towing services when he spotted the old man’s face. A great sense of cheer washed over Larry as this was the same man who had mocked him and his wife in the pub. Most men would be upset to see this, but not Larry. He saw this as an opportunity to rub his charity and kindness into this old man’s face by being polite and doing the best towing services he possibly could. Of course, the old man was rather shocked and went through a series of fazes. I’ll explain these fazes of the old man in a list:

At first he was confused.

Then he was shocked that Larry was still going to tow his vehicle.

Then he was amazed that Larry offered him a ride in his tow truck back to Halifax.

Lastly, the old man was so pleased that he apologized for his behavior in the pub and swore to never do anything of the like to anyone else again.

Now the story comes to the point where everything is looking up again. Larry got to do his job for the Halifax tow truck company and the old man got to learn a late lesson in life.

This kind of story is so beautiful to hear, not the racist part but the part of people coming together. No one is too old to realize they had been acting erroneously and no one is too old to change their ways. As for this old man, he did more than just apologize; he tipped Larry over $200 and swore he had never met a white man so ambivalent and kind in his life as Larry. As the lesson goes, I believe every racist will one day realize that we’re all just people and even a Mexican tow truck driver in Halifax can turn out to be the most lovable and sweethearted person you’ll ever meet.

So thanks for reading and I hope you saw the humor in this tale. When I first heard the story I nearly laughed my head off because I really liked the part about the old man discovering his mistake. Larry sure got a kick out of it, and he’s probably driving his tow truck in Halifax right now as you read this. So thank you, Larry. Thank you for teaching the world a lesson!